Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction
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Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction
Tennis Videos, Tennis Tips, Tennis Lessons, Tennis Podcast
Recent Episodes
99 episodes
McEnroe Serving Way off Line
Are there takeaways from this delivery that might help you (and I ) ? YES !! Observe his “dual leg drive” up and into the hit – by staying balanced an...
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Cat and Mouse – the Waiting Game – Training for Positioning and Movement
Mouse: cornered, no options desperate, will move first Cat: playful quick, waits for the mouse to move then pounces And for sure on court it is fun to...
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Jannik Sinner – sequential stills
The stills below are courtesy of my good friend Jim Fawcette – excellent camera man, he loves tennis, and he is my source for footage and so much more...
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Quantum Tennis, Coaching and Your Game
Quantum from Latin for “how much.” How much effort do you use when driving the forehand or delivering your serve?. Not your technique just how much e...
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Court Sense
“Court sense” speaks to your awareness of the court, your awareness of your opponent’s options, and how you might best respond to those same options....
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Footwork Patterns
David Bailey the prominent footwork Trainer on Carlos Alcaraz, his court coverage, quickness, speed and so much more, all about the starting move … “I...
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Learning by Playing the Game
Thinking our loud here ……… Likely we have lost tennis games to players who appeared to have inferior technical skills And most have seen a video where...
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Hitting the ball or Playing the Game
Hitting the Ball – Mechanics, Posture, Balance and Rhythm, Playing the game – only two cardinal rules Put the ball over the net (translated – hit up)...
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Underspin Backhand
A bit of history here, back to my childhood coach Blackie Jones. He specified that all my drop hits to start a rally, or to reply when another court...
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Simplicity
James Clear, “The highest level of mastery is simplicity. Most information is irrelevant and most effort is wasted, but only the expert knows what to...
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Implicit Teaching
Implicit Teaching – an Alternative to Explicit Methods From – Tomorrow’s Teaching and Learning By Rick Reis – Stanford University Instead of a detail...
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The Racquet Drop
Often a useful image is to point the butt cap at the ball And when aligned the player simply pulls the racquet into contact This pulling action occurs...
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What’s Up With The Toss?
For sure the game has changed, and will keep changing The same goes for the toss Years ago on Tennis Channel there was a clip of a doubles exhibition...
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Second Serve – The Glancing Blow
There is a lot here Rod Laver,”You are only as good as your second serve.” Pete Sampras about his 7 Wkmbledon titles, “I had the best second serve in...
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Roger Federer – Sequential Photos
The following sequence is excellent – with very basic elements highlighted Within the 7 images please note the following He tosses with his weight on...
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Early to Step
Download this Video The most difficult opponent we face is often the “dreaded pusher” – but in spite of this players consistency, this players movemen...
Mixing Things Up – Changing Length Speed and Spin
The drop shot Federer disdained the drop shot in his early years. But Roger believes it helped him capture the French Open in 2009 when opponents were...
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(Re) Building the Serve
Balance Rhythm and Efficiency – your keys to an Effortless Service Delivery The following materials are suitable for juniors and adults The primary ta...
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Alcaraz Serve Live
Video courtesy Jim Fawcette ©jfawcette The following is research by Jim Fawcette “You had mentioned Ferero’s role in coaching Carlos Alcaraz. Search...
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Alcaraz the Serve
Photo courtesy Jim Fawcette ©jfawcette More and more my observations are less “biomechanical” – just about...
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Transitioning to the Net
The most difficult aspect of the game, may be the ability to play in “open” areas Meaning, closed skills are repetitive – the serve, bowling, movement...
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Tennis on the Theory of Golf – Explore with an Open Mind
Your back knee – as in, “the knee bones connected to the hip bone” In golf, as you finish your swing, you are able to easily walk down the fairway Sim...
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The Dog Wagging Its Tail
In this photo Djokovic demonstrates perfect posture, and how his body (dog) has truly pulled the arm and racquet (tail.) So how to synchronize the arm...
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Sidespin – means hitting the side of the ball
The following is meant to be visual, with very few words about how to serve, which grip to use, or really anything else. I am choking up on the racque...
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A Teacher Never Knows …
How I got here At 11 years old I would bicycle to Acalanes High School, sit in the shade amidst the trees, and watch Blackie Jones give lessons. He w...
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This and That – Looking back
We are, as likely are you, sheltering in place. Quite a bit of time for me to revisit 10 years of work on this site, and the previous 20 years of work...
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Loosening the Fingers – think Quantum
In physics, a quantum is the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction Many interesting parallels have been drawn between the t...
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Centering the Opponent- Deep and Down the Middle
Jack Kramer (hopefully you have one of the old Wilson Kramer autograph wooden frames) played deep and down the middle when in a rally. Note, with his...
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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – Contact in Front
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – from an excellent camera angle One of our best coaches once described simply 4 keys to hitting the ball Early preparation Quick l...
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Squaring the Face on the Volley
The keys to improve your volley include Simplify the preparation – on the first move the strings must face the ball Use a brief but solid blocking act...
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Placing the Toss
For me, the phrase “place the toss” describes accuracy But more than that, this dialogue is about whether you swing at the toss, or toss the ball into...
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Elbows on the Serve
The following is yet another attempt to “keep it simple” Notice the following: The toss appears to PEAK within the contact area – which years ago was...
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Is there TOO MUCH information?
The short answer is YES The longer answer may lead you yo examine (or reexamine) your point of view. Whether discussing tactics, footwork, ball striki...
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One Handed Topspin Backhand
Dominic Thiem plays Stefanos Tsitsipas in the ATP World Finals on Sunday We will enjoy a demonstration of full throated one handed topspin backhands H...
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First Things First – Preparation
What is your first move when you read the incoming ball? Move your feet? Racquet back? How soon? When in relation to the bounce of the incoming ball?...
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Agility – Hsieh Su-wei
Agility – the ability to move quickly and easily Perhaps we overlook this basic training approach – nothing about force, power or even strength Just a...
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The Badminton Clear (from the archives) to Unscrew the Lightbulb
From the archives (yes I do look younger) – and as usual this is about hitting up instead of forward or down on the serve! Badminton – Many parallels...
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Footwork Secrets -and the “Crazy Rich Asians” by Jon M Chu
There is a story here. Some many years ago a talented high school senior filmed “The Secrets of World Class Footwork” (sowcf) He had been a tennis stu...
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ETI 051 | Reality Therapy – Facing the Truth on Court
Winning matches will not always lead you to work on your “weak spots” But for sure, there is stark reality if those same weak spots cost you the match...
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